How and what to watch for Penn State vs. Nebraska

In a battle of the winless teams in the Big Ten, the Penn State Nittany Lions will take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers Saturday at 12:00 p.m. ET in Lincoln, NE.

The Nittany Lions (0-3) are coming into this matchup looking to salvage whatever is left of their regular season. Last week,Penn State lost 35-19 to the Maryland Terrapins at home, with the defense struggling to slow down Maryland’s passing attack led by freshman quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa. The other Tagovailoa completed 18-of-26 passes for 282 yards and three touchdowns, two of which went to wide receiver Rakim Jarrett, who had five receptions for 144 receiving yards. It was the second-straight week that Penn State’s defense has allowed an opposing team’s wide receiver to reach the 100-yard mark.

Penn State’s defense is also giving up 36.3 points per game, which ranks 10th in the Big Ten. Offensively, quarterback Sean Clifford had another inconsistent performance, completing 27-of-57 passes for 340 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions. Last season, Clifford only had seven interceptions, but he’s on pace to surpass that total with five in three games. He’ll be looking to have a better performance on Saturday against Nebraska’s defense, which is allowing 36.5 points per game this season.

As for the Cornhuskers, they are lost 21-13 to Northwestern last week on the road. In only their second game of the season due to COVID-19, Nebraska played much better than they did in Week 1 versus Ohio State.

The Cornhuskers’ defense forced two interceptions on Northwestern quarterback Peyton Ramsey and got an okay performance from their offense. Nebraska started Adrian Martinez under center, who had 125 passing yards and an interception but added 102 yards on the ground. But head coach Scott Frost benched Martinez for backup Luke McCaffrey, who completed 12-of-16 passes for 93 yards, an interception, and had 49 rushing yards. Based on both of their performances, Frost will have a tough decision to make for Saturday’s game.

Game Time/TV Channel/Streaming

You can watch Penn State vs. Nebraska on Saturday, November 14th at 12:00 p.m. ET on FS1 Network, which you can stream it via the Fox Sports Go app with a cable or streaming service login.

Point Spread, Totals, Odds, Trends

Point spread: Penn State (-3) vs. Nebraska
Point Total: 56.5
Money line: Penn State (-143) vs. Nebraska (+118)

• Penn State is 1-4 against the spread in its last five games.
• The point total went under in six of Penn State’s last seven road games.
• Nebraska is 2-9 against the spread in its last 11 games.
• The point total went under in four of Nebraska’s last six games against Penn State.

Betting splits

Penn State: (43% of handle, 48% percent of bets)
Nebraska: (57% of handle, 52% percent of bets)

The Best Bet

This has not been great season for either Penn State or Nebraska. Both teams have suffered defeats to Ohio State in consecutive weeks, and are looking for a win to salvage what is left of their season. The Nittany Lions have put up points on offense without a running game, but their defense has given up 30-plus points each week. The Cornhuskers played better last week in their loss to Northwestern, but we don’t know who will start at quarterback — will it be Adrian Martinez or Luke McCaffrey?

Pick: Under 56.5

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